Sinn Féin's campaign for a united Ireland was dealt a severe blow on Friday when a survey in Northern Ireland showed that most Catholics there preferred to remain within the UK.

Fifty two per cent of Catholics living in Northern Ireland wanted that union to continue, while 35% said they desired a united Ireland.

Overall, 73% of respondents to the Life and Times survey – one of the main polling bodies in the province – said they wished to stay in the UK rather than link up with Dublin.

Although both Sinn Féin and the smaller nationalist SDLP party questioned the accuracy of the poll, the Life and Times survey was commissioned by the office of the first and deputy first minister at Stormont, jointly headed by Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson.

In successive Life and Times surveys since 2008, a majority of Catholics taking part have indicated a preference for staying in the UK. Over the last few years, the Irish Republic has been perceived to be less attractive to northerners following Dublin's fiscal crisis and the ongoing recession.

An overwhelming number of Protestants in the north of Ireland continue to support the maintenance of the union with Britain. Only 4% of northern Protestants opted for Irish unity in the poll.

The results of the survey come as Sinn Féin prepares to launch another push for Irish unity. The party is holding a rally in Dublin this weekend at which its president, Gerry Adams, will put the case for unification

The Democratic Unionist party – the single biggest party in the Stormont Assembly – welcomed the Life and Times survey and said it showed that traditional communal loyalties were "crumbling away".

Although a majority of Catholics vote for Sinn Féin, the most robustly pro-united Ireland party on the island, unionist have argued that this does not necessarily translate into support for ending the union.

The Northern Ireland Life and Times survey has been carrying out polls tracking political attitudes in the province since the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998.